NYT: Le Moyne is back to reality after its miracle moment

Dennis Nett / The Post-StandardAs the seconds wind down in the Le Moyne-Syracuse game, the Le Moyne bench celebrates the stunning victory.

By Pete Thamel
New York Times News Service

On Nov. 3, Le Moyne College pulled off perhaps the most stunning upset of the college basketball season. The Dolphins defeated Syracuse University in an exhibition game at the Carrier Dome, starting an unparalleled run of publicity.

The 82-79 shocker led “SportsCenter” the next morning. Traffic to the college’s athletic Web site increased by 600 percent, and Le Moyne sold more Dolphins gear online in the next week than it had the previous year.

Nearly two months later, however, the world order in Syracuse-area basketball has been restored. Syracuse is off to an 18-1 start, and a No. 5 ranking, and has gone from unranked to legitimate contender for the Final Four. Le Moyne is back to the anonymous existence of a Division II program. The Jesuit college of 2,300 students has an overall record of 9-6 and is 5-5 in the Northeast-10.

“I’ll forever be known as the coach who won the game that didn’t count,” said Steve Evans, who is in his 10th year as head coach at Le Moyne.